Found this BIG Bristleworm

[reggiepe]

Atleast I hope that is what it is...........

<a href="http://s133.photobucket.com/albums/q56/reggiepe/?action=view&current=DSCF0004.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q56/reggiepe/DSCF0004.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>


It has been seen stretching halfway across a 4 foot tank.

[thor32766]

awesome, get big cleaner there!

[Swanwillow]

ummm, I don't know if there are 2 ft long bristle worms, you may have something a tad bit more... unwanted in there.

[USC-fan]

I have a couple that size.

[spleen93]

Make sure it's not one of these (http://marinebio.org/species.asp?id=292)

[reggiepe]

Everytime that I try to catch it in the inverted soda bottle trap, it will stretch across the tank...never leaving the safety of the hole in the rock that it is in. It sticks its head in the bottle , grabs the food, and retracts back across the tank. It only come out every few evenings. You should see the pile of snail shells and hermit crab shells around its home. I think this worm is single handedly responsible for destroying my CUC.

[USC-fan]

No way that thing can kill a hermit crab.

[McTeague]

That is definitely a bristleworm. Just leave it alone...

[rbrusletto]

you need a really, really big sixline

[rbrusletto]

I think this worm is single handedly responsible for destroying my CUC. [/B]

Fireworms get a bad rap for being the cleanup crew after something else has killed something. They come 'round after the kill has been made and feast without fear..

[Swanwillow]

make a little spear.

IMO, even though everyone else thinks its okay, I'd DEFINITELY take out the guy. Maybe one of them ^ would volunteer to take it and put it in their OWN tank?

[djc1026]

If there's a pile of shells around the rock, you could have a mantis shrimp taking out your clean up crew.

Dave

[reggiepe]

If I would have a mantis, I know I would've seen it by now. This tank has been setup with this rock for almost two years now. This same rock was in a smaller tank of mine for 15+ years prior to that.

[shred5]

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y144/shrededge/bristle.jpg

That is bristle worm that I had in one of my tanks for years.. Mainly ate algae.

Yours is a bristle worm. Although most bristle worms are harmless some are very destructive. If you have any doubts remove him. Better safe than sorry..

As far as a mantis goes it is possible never to see him but you should hear the clicking sound they make... I had one in my tank that I saw when I first set the tank up but never did I see him after that for years. Always knew he was there just never saw him. He must of made a home in the back.


Dave

[reggiepe]

Never hear the clicking and in the last 15 years, the only strange dissapearance has beeh a lawnmower blenny that was only in the tank for a month.

[Deminos]

I have seen at least 5 of these in my tank when a silverside would escape my old lionfish. They have never once gone after anything still living as far as I know.

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u161/jstokes76/0023013.jpg

[luke33]

I have alot of these guys in my tank. They have only touched dead snails and never anything else. They are great detrivore eaters and help out alot. I'd leave it be, but if you must remove it, then give it to someone instead of killing it, as thats a great guy to have on your cleaner side that many would take.

[greenbean36191]

IMO, even though everyone else thinks its okay, I'd DEFINITELY take out the guy. Maybe one of them ^ would volunteer to take it and put it in their OWN tank?
If I still had a tank I'd offer to take it. It's a fireworm and worms in this family have no jaws and pose absolutely no threat to the CUC.

[reggiepe]

SO, my understanding is that these guys will never go after anything that is alive. If that is the case then, I will leave it be. I will just have to be careful if I ever dismantle the tank. I don't want to grab ahold of that bugger when I am lifting out a rock. Aside from the "ick" factor, I haven't seen it take anything alive. So I guess the shells that I see around its hole must be the dead ones that he has pulled back to eat in the comfort of his own home.

[reefworm]

good decision to leave it be. do make sure you wear gloves if you move things around as even the little ones can hurt :(

[ManotheSea]

They can get over two feet long. I think the small ones are great reef cleaners, but I would not want a large one in my tank. I have heard of using a scewer to spear them... if you can get close enough. Use a flashlite with a red lense at night to look for it. The nocturnal creatures cant see the red light so you wont disturb it when searching.